Windows Phone hits record 9.2 percent market share in the UK

SOFTWARE HOUSE Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile operating system has reached a record 9.2 percent market share in the UK.

That's according to the latest statistics from Kantar Worldpanel Comtech, which show that Microsoft's mobile operating system market share has increased five percent over the past year. This sees Windows Phone accounting for 9.2 percent of the UK smartphone market as of July, compared to a 4.2 percent share this time last year.

Dominic Sunnebo, strategic insight director at the research firm said, "Windows Phone, driven largely by lower priced Nokia smartphones such as the Lumia 520, now represents around one in 10 smartphone sales in Britain, France, Germany and Mexico.

"Windows Phone's success has been in convincing first time smartphone buyers to choose one of its devices with 42 [percent] of sales over the past year coming from existing feature phone owners. This is a much higher proportion than Android and iOS," Sunnebo added.

As for Android and iOS, Kantar's latest market share statistics see the tables turning slightly. While Android has long held the lead, and still does, Google's mobile operating system's market share slipped by 3.8 percent in the UK, with Android now accounting for 55.2 percent of the smartphone market.

On the other hand, Apple's iOS market share increased by 7.8 percent during the three month period ending in July, despite the lack of a new iPhone announcement. It saw similar growth in the US, accounting for 43.4 percent of smartphone sales there.